Flexible ‘Mason Jar’

The other 2020 Flexible Packaging Achievement Award Winners are:  Innventure's AeroFlexx (Highest achievement)   |    UFlex Ltd.’s 4D Bag with Handle    |    UFlex Ltd.’s FlexiTube     |     Amcor Healthcare’s Insura Seal Verification     |     Printpack’s Paqui Tortilla Chip Pouch     |       Plastic Packaging Technologies’s Hill’s Recyclable Pet Treat Bag      |    Glenroy’s Premade Standcap Inverted Pouches      |      ePac’s Skratch Labs Mosaic Packaging     |    Printpack’s Stacy’s Women’s History Month Package      |     Paxxus’ StreamOne  |  Silver Winners

The pouches are made by Amcor Flexibles Brazil and sent to Predilecta for filling. Other than saying the filling machine is rotary in nature, Predilecta isn’t saying much about the equipment or the speeds at which it runs. Secondary packaging is a corrugated case with a perforated tear-off top that makes it a Retail-Ready shipper.

What makes this container so notable is that it’s a replacement for the glass jar format that is traditionally used for such sauces. Yet the design, shape, and graphics of the pouch make its appearance on shelf perfectly consistent with the mason jar look of traditional sauce packaging. But where this package really shines is in how light it is. A Life Cycle Analysis conducted by SavvyPack determined that the Predilecta pouch represents a 97% weight reduction compared to a glass jar. Along with that impressive accomplishment comes a 77% reduction in energy consumption required and an 84% reduction in CO₂e (CO₂ equivalent) released.

Amcor makes these pouches on a Totani machine from a three-layer adhesive lamination of oriented polypropylene/metallized OPET/Sealant layer with EVOH. The outside layer of polyester is reverse-printed on a gravure press in nine colors. After filling, Predilecta sends the pouches through a retort that gives them an 18-month shelf life. Consumers pay about R$2.40 (U.S. $0.58) per pouch.